Australia and Oceania

Australia and Oceania covers a massive region of almost 100 million square kilometres (60 million square miles), stretching from the Northern Mariana Islands (about the same latitude as Hawaii) to south of New Zealand in the South Pacific.It is a complex region – apart for Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand the region mainly comprises thousands of tropical islands. Many of these have been acquired by countries outside the region, including France, United Kingdom, and the United States.Unlike any of the other regions, Australia and Oceania has massively diverse cultures, a European history spanning hundreds of years rather than thousands, and strong indigenous communities that are popular among travelers.

Unlike the other major continents, travelers to Australia and Oceania destinations normally holiday in just one smaller region on each trip – crossing Australia itself is like crossing all of Europe, and the region is over 12,000 kilometres from east to west.